Netflix creates a hack for pausing video when you fall asleep

Netflix Hack Day also results in playlists and a new onscreen keyboard.

Netflix held an internal "hack day" this month, according to a report from TechCrunch, attempting to solve some of the service's problems, sand its rough edges, and leverage other technologies to make the experience better. The company produced a handful of videos exhibiting the hacks, which were all created in 24 hours per the rules of the event.

One hack that will resonate deeply with Netflix's audience is one that pauses a video if the service detects the viewer has fallen asleep. The hack requires integration with a Fitbit, which can track sleep as well as a couple other metrics. If data from the bracelet shows the viewer is deep in slumber, Netflix pauses the video and offers the "sleep bookmark" as a place to resume watching when the viewer awakens.

Another hack could benefit services other than Netflix. Scrolling through an alphabetical onscreen keyboard and pecking out letters is a user-hostile experience that is all too familiar to console users. Netflix's Radial takes advantage of joystick motions to make text input on a console controller easier, placing letters on a wheel to scroll through instead.

One of the hacks is even an endorsement of account sharing. "Netflix Beam" lets visiting friends access your account on their own devices, revoking their access when they leave.

A Netflix representative tells Ars, "these ideas may never go beyond hack day and may never get into the Netflix product, but it is possible that one or a few will." If nothing else, they show a good understanding of their customer's daily Netflix struggles.